After reading Sisters Red and Sweetly, and loving both, I hitched a ride in my time machine, or maybe it was just to my local library, and went back to As You Wish, the first novel by Jackson Pearce.

Viola, a somewhat flimsy, sad teenager, used to have friends, used to be popular. After getting her heart broken by her best friend, she retreats into being a wallflower art student who feels so detached from the world; her wish to belong is so strong, it calls forth a genie, Jinn. Viola now gets three wishes, but as you can imagine, what you think will make you happy, rarely does and as she gets closer and closer to using up her wishes, she realizes that once the wishes are gone, so is Jinn and any memory of him.

Jinn is by far the more interesting of these characters. He's a genie who exists in a magical place, only to be called forth by humans to grant their wishes. It's fun to watch Jinn's transformation from genie who just wants to go home and why won't this human make her stupid wishes already, to Jinn, a sweet boy who may have made some friends, and found what he has been missing for so long. His narration is strong and his journey seems natural. He's by far my favorite.

Viola's narration is different from Jinn's. Although you have to feel for the girl, there's only so long I can read about her wallowing in self pity. And as the wishes go crazy, Viola grows into herself. I would have liked to see the character mature even more as she didn't quite redeem herself to me by the end. Lawrence is the best friend, former boyfriend and he is a nice change from Viola. His relationship with Jinn gives the world an added layer.

A quick fun read, and it's interesting to see how Pearce's writing has progressed. While I might have enjoyed Sisters Red and Sweetly more, Pearce keeps getting better and better. I am excited to read more.